Contraception Challenges Dismissed in Nashville, Pittsburgh

The contraception mandate decisions just keep coming. On Thursday a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by a group of Catholic nonprofits in Nashville while a federal judge in Pittsburgh dismissed a similar lawsuit brought by the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

An identical case, brought by the Catholic Diocese in Erie is still pending but after the dismissal in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh a dismissal in that suit is likely as well.

In the dismissals of the Catholic Diocese suits both the judges in Nashville and Pittsburgh held the because the mandate was not yet in effect, and since the administration was in the process of further working to address concerns from religious organizations, the Dioceses had suffered no injury yet.

There are approximately 40 federal suits challenging the contraception mandate on the docket nationwide, including 12 suits brought by various Catholic dioceses nationwide. Of those cases pending, district judges have dismissed seven of the cases, including these most recent decisions, granted injunctions in two, denied an injunction in another and issued a split decision. The others are all still pending in federal courts across the country.